Asian Stocks Mixed, Wall St Futures Drop As US Heads For Shutdown

With Democrats and Republicans unable to reach a funding deal, the US government is on the brink of a shutdown (Credit: AFP)

Asian markets stuttered, US futures fell and gold hovered near record highs Wednesday after lawmakers in Washington failed to reach a deal to avert a government shutdown.

The prospect of federal services being closed overshadowed optimism the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates again, with the crisis possibly causing the postponement of key data used by the bank to decide on policy.